A 31-year-old Dimona woman who had tried to become pregnant for 12 years through in-vitro fertilization suffered a heart attack during her 30th week of pregnancy – and delivered healthy triplets soon after undergoing angioplasty of her coronary arteries.

The drama took place at Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center, which reported the event on Thursday. Two of the baby girls were born at 1.6 kilos, and a third at 1.3 kilos.

The parents named one of the babies Zohara to honor a nurse in the neonatal intensive care unit who devotedly takes care of them.

The mother, Zinav Alpiomi, was rushed to Kaplan last week after suffering an acute heart attack. She underwent examination in the heart institute, headed by Prof. Kobi George, and went for catheterization and the clearing of her clogged coronary artery. Afterward, she was transferred to the surgical department to undergo delivery by cesarean section on January 1.

Alpiomi, a special education teacher, and her husband Ahmed were overjoyed when, after so many pregnancy attempts, she got pregnant via IVF. They decided to keep all three fetuses out of fear that she would have a spontaneous abortion. Suddenly she felt labor pains, as well as strong chest pains that signaled she was having a heart attack, despite her young age. The doctors knew that to remain viable in her womb, she would need an angioplasty to increase the blood supply to her heart and stabilize heart function.

Eight days after giving birth, she saw her daughters for the first time and burst into tears.

Ahmed said that during their 12 years of infertility, he had given up, but his wife had insisted on undergoing IVF again despite the risks.

“We were so close to losing her and the babies, but today we thank God and the Kaplan medical staff,” the joyful husband said.

Ukrainians wounded in Kiev arrive in Israel

Condition of 9 victims of gunfire is said to be serious as they are transferred to Kaplan and Hadassah hospitals

Nine Ukrainians injured by gunfire during fighting in Kiev were flown to Israel Friday afternoon to receive crucial medical treatment.

The wounded, who are said to be in serious condition, were taken to Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot and to Hadassah’s Ein Kerem Hospital.

The head of the World Forum of Russian Speaking Jewry, Alexander Levin, said that Kiev’s central synagogue functioned as an emergency triage center late into Thursday night, while efforts to transfer the wounded were being coordinated by Kiev’s Jewish community, according to Israel Radio.

Ukraine’s Jews have found themselves in a tense predicament since the ouster of president Viktor Yanukovych late last month. But the community, which numbers over 100,000, has been largely supportive of Ukrainian nationalists against a subsequent military invasion of Crimea by Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has attempted to cast Ukrainian nationalists as anti-Semites and neo-Nazis, in what has been described by many Ukrainian Jews as a disinformation campaign meant to turn world opinion against the country’s fledgling government.

‘Death to Jews’ is scrawled on the Ner Tamid synagogue in Simferopol, in Ukraine’s Crimean Republic, last week (courtesy)

An attack on a synagogue last week in Crimea has been used by Russia to back up its assertions, but Jewish leaders in Ukraine maintain that anti-Semitism is not on the rise.

In a highly critical open letter to Putin published earlier this week, 21 community leaders excoriated Putin’s perceived hypocrisy and asserted their support of Ukrainian sovereignty “in the name of national minorities and Ukraine’s Jewish community.”

“Your certainty about the growth of anti-Semitism in Ukraine, which you expressed at your press conference, also does not correspond to the actual facts,” wrote the group. “Perhaps you got Ukraine confused with Russia, where Jewish organizations have noticed growth in anti-Semitic tendencies last year.”

Calling for Putin to cease his intervention in Ukraine and his encouragement for pro-Russian separatism within the country, the group stated that it does not wish “to be ‘defended’ by sundering Ukraine and annexing its territory.”

Instead, the authors wrote, “we are quite capable of protecting our rights in a constructive dialogue and in cooperation with the government and civil society of a sovereign, democratic, and united Ukraine.”

While Kiev and its environs have been relatively peaceful since the chaos of Feb. 18 and Feb. 19, hundreds are still suffering from wounds incurred during clashes with riot police operating on behalf of the country’s then president, Victor Yanukovych.

But thanks to the effort of volunteers in both Kiev and Israel, Bolodimir and six other severely wounded patients were airlifted to Israel March 7, where they are scheduled to receive treatment at the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot as well as at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

Many of the wounded already have undergone multiple surgeries locally. But care in Ukrainian hospitals is deeply lacking, said Tzvi Arieli, a coordinator of the treatment effort who has lived in both Ukraine and Israel.

“When you go into a public hospital in Ukraine, you don’t know if you will leave dead,” Arieli told JTA.

The initiative stemmed from the desire of Ukrainian Jews to help their countrymen using the advanced medical capacities of Israeli hospitals, Arieli wrote in an open letter to supporters.

“We are a group of Jews from Ukraine,” Arieli wrote. “What binds us together is our Jewish identity and our deep desire to do something to alleviate the suffering of those who have been injured during recent events.”

“We love our fellow Ukrainians,” he continued, “and we are proud of the Jewish state, Israel, whose first-class medical treatment will give our countrymen the best chance at resuming a normal life.”

The project faced initial obstacles in terms of both hospital access within Israel and funding. Dr. Valeriya Babchik, a physician at Kaplan, helped to organize the project, along with Arieli and Marina Lysak, a Kiev resident.

Alexander Levin, an American Jewish businessman with extensive ties to Ukraine, donated $50,000 to the initiative, which covered the initial costs of transporting the first group. But Arieli and others estimate the cost of transportation and medical care for 20-30 severely wounded individuals to reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not higher.

For now, those involved in the project are feeling thrilled.

“Our plane has taken off!” wrote one Kiev volunteer, exuberantly, on her Facebook page. “All the sleepless nights are worth it.”

For project volunteers in Israel, however, the work is just beginning.

According to Anna Zharova, who is coordinating volunteer help in Israel, volunteers have helped arrange ambulances for the arriving wounded. A request for translation of medical documents from Russian or Ukrainian into Hebrew or English went viral, arranged through a Gmail account.

“Every injured person will have a volunteer to get everything he needs: food, a place to stay for his family that’s coming with him,” Zharova said. “My vision is that there won’t be politics here. There are different sides and opinions, but we’re careful to come from a place of assistance. It’s a matter of life and death. Over there, they’re volunteering 24 hours a day.”

Zharova and others interviewed expressed frustration that government sources have been largely unresponsive to the group’s efforts. Hennadii Nadolenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Israel, pledged support but has not fulfilled initial promises, Zharova said.

“This was all through private hands. There’s no time to waste. People are dying from simple things because there are no medical supplies, no medicine, nothing,” she told JTA.

The Israeli government has been largely silent on the issue, despite the large population of Jews from Ukraine living in Israel.

“We want to reach the government. There’s no shortage of Ukrainians here with family or friends there, and it’s important to them. This isn’t coming from a political standpoint. It’s humanitarian, to help people,” Zharova said. “It’s important for us to connect to Hebrew speakers. We want Israelis to know about this initiative, anyone who can help, because that’s our way of doing tikkun olam.”

(Reported by Ben Sales from Tel Aviv, Talia Lavin from New York and Cnaan Liphshiz from Amsterdam)

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